Harry and Meghan 'are returning to the UK with their children for the first time in four years' as prince attends Invictus Games event next month

Prince Harry is expected to bring his wife Meghan Markle and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet on a rare visit to Britain next month, according to reports.

The Duke of Sussex could be set to take his family to the UK for the first time in four years to attend events in Birmingham marking one year until the Invictus Games.

The children have not seen their grandfather King Charles III in person since their last trip to Britain in June 2022 for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The Duchess has not made a prolonged trip to the UK since the late Queen's funeral that September, apart from occasional stopovers in London for foreign tours.

Harry is said to be satisfied with security arrangements for the visit in mid-July and is now planning for Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, to make the trip from California.

The prince has seen his father just twice in two years and is still thought to be waiting for a decision on what security provision he and his family are entitled to in Britain. 

Buckingham Palace declined to comment today on the Sussexes' planned trip, but the Daily Mail understands that royal aides view all matters of security as an issue for the Home Office, which is now thought to be nearing a decision on Harry's appeal. 

One of the 41-year-old duke's business associates based in Los Angeles claimed there had been a 'warming of the frost' between Harry and Charles in recent months.

The new reports today mark an about-turn from the situation just last Friday, when sources told the Sussex-friendly US publication People that Meghan and the children were not expected to join Harry on the trip because of security concerns. 

In recent years Harry, who stepped down as a working royal in 2020, has levelled a barrage of accusations at the King and his stepmother Queen Camilla in his Oprah Winfrey interview, Netflix documentary, other interviews and tell-all memoir Spare.

But in a tentative step towards repairing their troubled relationship, the duke joined Charles for a private tea when he visited the UK last September, spending 54 minutes with his father at Clarence House after not seeing him face to face for 19 months.

It is not known whether Harry or any of his family will meet Charles if they join him on the upcoming trip, which will also see the prince meet those from patronages such as WellChild and Scotty's Little Soldiers.

A source close to Harry told News.com.au: 'It's been a real point of great sadness - for Harry especially - that he's been unable to bring his wife and kids back to the UK safely to reconnect with friends and family, but anyone would understand his desire to put their safety first.

'He would love to introduce the children to his wider family, to show them the UK, where he grew up - his homeland. That would be a natural thing for any parent.'

And royal expert Tom Sykes, author of The Royalist on Substack, said in a YouTube video today: 'Let's be very clear what is happening here. This is the undoing of Megxit. This is the end. This is the nullification of the Sandringham summit.

'This is the half in half out dream that Harry and Meghan have pursued for six years in complete defiance of what Queen Elizabeth warned them about, of what Queen Elizabeth recommended. This is it coming to fruition.'

He added: 'I think it's going to go down incredibly badly. But they have got half in, half out. It's not a question of they won't get it. They have got it.

'They've been traveling to Australia. They've been monetising their brand. They've been traveling all around the world.'

In March, Harry's friends told the Sunday Times that the duke wanted the King to invite his family to stay on his private Sandringham estate in Norfolk this summer so he can see his grandchildren.

But sources close to the monarch told the Daily Mail at the time that 'low trust and bitter experience' over a string of leaks and media briefings from 'Team Sussex' in recent years were a major difficulty in making progress to restore family harmony.

Prince William and Kate - from whom Harry remains firmly estranged - also spend much of their holidays at Sandringham, where they have a country home, Anmer Hall.

Harry's family were stripped of round-the-clock taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Police bodyguards when he quit the working monarchy and moved to North America.

He is offered armed police bodyguards on a case-by-case basis, which in part depends on whether he is in Britain for family or private and commercial purposes.

The prince has made clear that he is not happy with the arrangements, saying he does not feel it is 'safe' to bring his family to Britain unless he is given full-time armed police protection.

After losing a legal battle with the Government over the issue last year, Harry wrote to the Home Secretary asking for a full risk assessment on his family, which he claimed had not been done for some time.

Sources close to Harry had previously briefed media that an answer from the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which makes the final decision on what level of police protection he should have, was due by the end of January - and he was confident it would rule in his favour. No decision has yet been made.

The Mail understands that Harry and his family would not automatically receive enhanced security protection for a private family visit.

When the prince travels to the UK for work he is accompanied by his own unarmed security team, which includes former Metropolitan Police officers, which he funds himself.

He is entitled to publicly funded security only when attending official events at the monarch's request or invitation, such as Elizabeth II's funeral or Charles's coronation in 2023.

Harry previously claimed Charles was jealous of Meghan and Kate, did not hug him when he told him his mother Diana, Princess of Wales had died, and said he believed the King was 'never made' for single parenthood, but 'to be fair, he tried'.

Charles, according to Harry, pleaded with his sons during a tense meeting after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral: 'Please, boys. Don't make my final years a misery.'

Harry, who claimed in his memoir that William physically attacked him and pushed him into a dog bowl, remains estranged from his brother.

The Invictus Games sporting competition for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans is being staged in Birmingham next year from July 10-17.

The duke's spokesperson has been contacted for comment by the Daily Mail.